By Ron Evans
“Trying to tease out the poetry beyond the individual poems and stories here is the artistry of my position.” - C.G. Dahlin
Local poet, curator, publisher and vigilant champion for all things poetry, C.G. Dahlin has just released a second compilation of writings by locally connected authors and poets. “Whispers of Wenatchee II - A Collection of Natural Expression,” is a 228 page follow up to the first Whispers compilation that dropped in 2018. Dahlin had been running a poetry group at Ye Old Bookshoppe in downtown Wenatchee at the time and was inspired to put out a collection of works from the writers in that group, and from other local poets. He’d hoped the publishing end would be a group effort but soon decided if the project was going to be realized, he was going to have to do the grunt work himself. The result of those grunts is an impressive volume of works from writers and poets that are either local to the area, or have been impacted by it or connected to it in one way or another.
It really couldn’t be a better time for some new local writings to arrive, with most venues for live poetry being on hold for the foreseeable future. This collection is a powerful way to reconnect (from a safe distance) with a community of talented and passionate creatives, and an opportunity for these writers to be exposed to a new audience. Dahlin shared his experiences with The Comet in putting these collections together, the self-publishing process and some of his thoughts on the art of poetry. Also, throughout the page there are clips of readings from some of the writers featured in the book starting with an untitled piece by Michael Reed Schooler. This was left on Dahlin’s voicemail and it’s what inspired The Comet Answering Machine project.
Comet: How have you gone about collecting these works? Is there an open public call?
Dahlin: I post a call for submissions online, Facebook and Craigslist, at first I don’t put a deadline, I introduce the idea and start to compile. All submissions have to be to the Whispers email, typing up written work is a rare exception. In addition to this I spam posters all around. Up and down the ave, all around Wenatchee Valley College, in non-profits, wherever they will allow me to do so in the valley essentially. And lastly, comes the headhunting. This is one of my favorite parts of the project. There are a number of individuals that are off the beaten path of society, some don’t use computers, some no phones, and in this case I have to get creative and put myself in their paths. The RadarStation open mics, as an example, were a perfect place for this. Finding new people and letting them know what I was hoping to create. Once I’ve compiled a reasonable amount from everyone, I’ll update all the posters with a deadline and post that online as a “last call.”
Is there a selection process or is it more of an open mic scenario?
This part has always been a bit difficult to describe. So I’ve asked everyone to submit anything and everything (aside from entire novels), so I read through it all and get familiar. I go through it again and write in the inherent themes in each piece. From here I create separate documents based on a particular theme, for instance love, death, philosophical, nature centric, and then start to sort them accordingly. All the pieces that don’t fit in these themes that everyone’s established go into the “remnants” document, these particular pieces may be brought back into the main work depending on how everything lines up later.
Now comes the process of how these individual works in this individual section can best play with each other - there is nothing random about the order of the book. My idea is to craft what I call a meta-narrative so I’m conscientious of the flow of the book. What sections come first, which come last. I love the contrast that different works can bring to a topic. For instance in the love section, having an optimistic and romantic piece with a wrenching heartbreak piece directly after, that’s some poetry right there. Trying to tease out the poetry beyond the individual poems and stories here is the artistry of my position.
So to put it more simply, the selection process is all about “thematicness,” the choice of one piece over another has everything to do with the serendipity of what everyone submitted. There have been plenty of pieces that I love, but they don’t work well with the flow established which would be like a clump in the paint. This isn’t a wholly accurate description however, there are times where I can pull off something absurd. The last section of both books is the “heady” section, this portion has a lot more creative liberty than other sections. With all of this said, you can see why it’s difficult for me to say why some pieces get accepted and others don’t, why some contributors get featured more than others, it’s all about this “thematicness.”
Talk a little bit about the publishing process, are you working with editors or is this solely an independent project handled by you?
So I am the outreach, the marketer, the main editor, the curator, the publisher, and cover designer. However, in this volume, I had some help from another editor, Emmi Bartholdt, with the nit-pickiness in the minutia of the work. These books also needed help with Spanish translations and Anabel Watson has been the recurring translator.
As mentioned, there’s a lot of intricacy in the selecting and curating. Well there’s equally a lot of intricacy in the editing. This is not an easy job to outsource, there’s the balance between displaying the eccentricity of a poet/writer and providing uniformity in a book. Thankfully, Emmi understood this intricacy and provided help when I needed to temporarily back away from the project.
I then buy an ISBN number and pick a printing service for the Whispers books. In this way they are self-published and its outreach and availability is left completely up to me and my ability to get it in stores, online and so forth. Surprisingly, the last Whispers had a solid following down in Arizona.
How many writers are featured in this new book? And are they all local?
The first volume had 34 writers, this second volume doubled that, 68 writers in total. The one thing that unites all of the writers is that they have been to this area, some have lived here their whole lives, some briefly lived here, some grew up here and moved away. In each volume it says “Written by The Breathers of Wenatchian Air.” So, many of the writers live far away, some on the West side, some down in Oregon, another in North Carolina, but a solid proportion can be found here in the valley. This area is what ties them all together, whether in the past or present, here or far away.
In your opinion, what do you feel makes a great poem?
That’s a hard one, I think that it’s apparent that I have a love for poetry and short stories in various forms. If anyone has seen my performance poetry, then it’d be no surprise for me to say that I like poetry that challenges taboos. I want it to be edgy. I love the absurd, I love anything that changes my perspective, I love authenticity, vulnerability, and I love genuine humanity. And that’s what I believe the Whispers teases at best - humanity. Real life, what people really feel, no bullshit, no safeguards, raw, visceral humanity.
Live readings are a big part of the poetry world in general. In an age where live anything has been canceled, have there been any virtual poetry events you’ve been a part of?
Unfortunately I have very little to say in this regard. What few events there have been, I have been occupied. Aside from the snippets that come through on the Comet’s voicemails, I experienced very little of this since quarantine.
Where can people find your books?
Ye Old Bookshoppe, Wenatchee Natural Foods, A Book for All Seasons, and online wise, it’s on Amazon. I just got done with the book so the next order of business will be getting it out there, in Ellensburg, in Yakima, maybe over in Seattle, and more locations around the valley, quarantine has made this process much more challenging.
However if anyone reading this would like a copy, I encourage you to reach out to me personally, all venues, online and otherwise are middlemen, I always have copies on-hand, and will work with you personally to get you a copy.
